Customer Reviews

Pumping Iron II - The Women [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This short documentary explores the world of competitive female bodybuilding during the early 1980's. This film is true to the era with heavy makeup, spandex, bad hair and a moonwalk included during a posing routine. The film ponders the the level of acceptable muscularity that a woman should posess and examines the judging of a competitor who at the time was bigger than any other woman who ever stood on the competitive stage -- Australian power lifter Bev Francis. By current standards, Bev would fit right in and might actually be on the small side as compared to other female professional bodybuilders, but by 1983's standards, she was considered a freak. Neither the judges nor the competitors could come to a consensus about the ideal. The first Ms. Olympia Rachel McLish was more along the lines of what the public expected of female bodybuilders -- sleek, with some definition and feminine. McLish and the others look more like today's fitness competitors. Carla Dunlap had considerable size, but was still smaller than Francis who she said "Has muscularity that most men would envy."

Female bodybuilding is still a fringe activity, and this film shows some of what the pioneers endured in the early days. And much like today, the officials and trainers are mostly male.

I enjoyed this movie for its camp value, but it's also a nice history lesson for female physique competitors.

I saw this film when it first came out in the theaters. I remember I went in wanting Rachel McLish, respecting Carla Dunlap, and repulsed by Bev Francis. I came out of the theater wanting Carla Dunlap, respecting Bev Francis, and repulsed by Rachel McLish. I was about 21 at the time.

I am giving this film only three stars because, while "Pumping Iron II" is a well made film, it is a poorly made DVD. The film looks underexposed throughout and somewhat grainy in places. I realize the distributor is a small company but a little more effort could have been put into the transfer. If they could manage to get George Butler (the director) to do commentary then one would think they could manage to procure a better quality print (or even make a print from the negative) for DVD release. The photos in the still gallery that come in the Extras are digital crisp, even when viewed with the "zoom" feature on your remote. They should have put the same cleanup effort into the movie itself.

Speaking of extras, why is there no commentary from any of the principal participants/competitors themselves? This film was such a big break for all of them that I can't believe the producers couldn't get even one of them to offer their insights. A film like this needs some historical perspective, IMHO. Still, it's a good movie, worth buying if you're a fan of women's bodybuilding, or interested in women's studies.

In 1985, Women's Professional Bodybuilding was in it's infancy. Men's Bodybuilding had already been explored in the "Pumping Iron" documentary, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, we are taken in the gym and backstage at the premiere Professional Bodybuilding event for Women. Controversey arises, when one entrant (Bev Francis) is more bulky and muscular than other more svelte (Rachel McLish) entrants. Just what constitutes a Women's Bodybuilding Champion? The woman that is most muscular, or the one that looks more like the average woman's ideal?

This is a fantastic documentary and it arrived in'new' condition from the seller. I couldn't be more pleased!

When you watch this film you wonder what happened to the Ms. Olympia contest where women look like healthy athletes (Carla Dunlop, Rachel McLish) to the vein-popping, manly-looking contestants of today? The movie hints the answer with the introduction of Bev Francis. Though she does not win the contest, you can sense that her type is the wave of the future.

I liked this movie far better to Arnold's version, though Arnold was able to launch a mega-career from his movie where Rachel McLish only had a brief and unmemorable movie career.

The competition between McLish and Dunlop is fierce and more intriguing than the Arnold/Ferrigno competition of the men's version. Just watching these two goddesses compete is worth the price of the disk!

Lynn from Chicago was way off on saying women's bodybuilding
was in it's infancy in 1985.
1985 was the middle of the glory years.
Rachel had already won Ms.Olympia title several times.
Kike Eloma won one, and Carla Dunlap was an
Olympian. Cory Everson was on to her 2 title win in
1985. Late 70's to 1990 was the very best of female
bodybuilding. What it was will be greatly missed.
This film documents the beginning of the end of women's
bodybuilding. Sad thing to watch, but worth it.

This is a response to the person saying that the judges were politically correct, Excuse me...the movie is a disscussing a very deep and contraversial issue. It is not about women's body but the way society draws the line for women. Unless you think you know where to draw that line, then you don't need to watch that movie or to learn anything as a matter of fact. A very deep, heartfelt movie that is briliantely put together to disscuss a good argument, not for the male chauvinists, though!!! I am sorry that there are people who still think this way.

If you like female bodybuilding, you can't miss this video. You will experience the beginning of this sport, its most important competition -- The Ms Olympia -- and the formers females competitors who had the courage to break the "rules". It is an important documentary, in bodybuilding history.

Wow, talk about "documentary" filmmakers having an agenda. These guys (George Butler and Charles Gaines) must have graduated from the Michael Moore School Of Objectivity.

This film is the follow-up to the highly-acclaimed "Pumping Iron," made by the same guys about a decade earlier, and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, That one was well-done, even though they went out of their way to stretch the truth there, too. (Arnold is shown to be overly heartless and ruthless and his main competitors are pictured as easily-manipulated stupid idiots. Both were exaggerated).

Here, in the women's edition of Pumping Iron, Gaines and Butler have two more main objectives: 1) show how Bev Francis got screwed out of the championship trophy; 2) show the Christian contestant to be downright evil and a big phony.

As someone who spent his career in the newspaper business:I can tell you editors pick and choose what they want you to see and hear. It's called editing. You can bet thousands of footage was filmed for this "documentary." On McLish, only the material that made her look bad was inserted in the film. That was obvious. We never see her shown in a positive light. And, of course, anytime they could get her to mention she was a Christian, and then follow that up with something the audience would find distasteful about her, all the better!

Regarding Francis, frankly, I agree -- she did get robbed. Who in their right mind would argue she wasn't hands down the best contestant? Nobody, even the gracious winner Carla Dunlap. However, the filmmakers could have let the viewers see the obvious, without hammering their point home time and time again, going out of their way to show how ignorant the judges were. It's like.....okay, we know what's happening here .... move on. How about showing more of the winner of the contest?

Overall, the movie was interesting, especially to people who work out regularly in a gym....... but it could have been so much better without the bias.

While I think this is an awesome film (and think the original is quite a landmark as well), this review is intended to supply additional information from the packaging not provided by Amazon.

Catalog/Categorization:
Catalog #: CPMD2302
Stereo. 107 minutes. Not Rated. Suitable for most audiences. Parental discretion advised.
Distributed by Central Park Media, produced by Bar Belle Productions, 1985.
Language: English
Audio Format: Dolby Digital Stereo
Audio Notes: Dolby Digital soundtracks contain up to 5.1 channels of discrete audio. Playback from 2-channel DVD player outputs is compatible with stereo and Dolby Pro Logic reproduction.
Dual Layer Format: Layer transition may trigger a slight pause.

DVD Features: Bodybuilder Profiles, Director Profile, Production Notes, Director Interview, Photo Gallery, Previews and more

DVD-ROM Features: Interview with George Butler, Full Song Listing, Photo Gallery, Production Credits and more

Note: Reverse side of the case's back panel (visible through inside of case) contains information on cast and chapter stops; however, my copy of this video is still factory-sealed so I am unable to provide this information. I hope this is still helpful to those considering this rare film!